Lily's Rebirth

By Angelina Kerner

Lily Adams was a simple girl living in Silicon Valley. As the world entered 2023, everyone was celebrating and hoping for a better year, however the celebration ended with a bang, or rather a shake. After the earthquake she woke handcuffed and was named a "runaway" and "experiment." What would that do to her mind and would his experiment become her salvation?

*warning - has several potential triggers

• Language: English
• Publisher: Angelina Kerner
• Release date: Aug 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223320371

Book preview

Lily’s Rebirth

RESILIENCE NEEDS A VOICE

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Angelina Kerner

Lily’s Rebirth

By Angelina Kerner

Sr. Editor - Maggie Kern

Proofreader – Tiffany Purdon

October 2022

Book Cover Designed by – RJ Creatives | BookDesigns

Header and Divider | Etheric Designs

www.kernerangelina.live

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Lily's Rebirth

Copyright © 2022 Angelina Kerner

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, either electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author.

Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblances to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.

DEDICATION

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To Those Who Feel Lost.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 24

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to everyone who has kept me going through writing this novella. Particular thanks are due to the following:

Thank you to Maggie Kern for editing and providing feedback. You are amazing as always. Thank you to my PA, Tiffany Purdon for proofreading and editing. Thank you to RJ Creatives for gorgeous book cover. Thank you to Etheric Designs for the amazing header and divider images.

A thank you to the Alpha readers: Becca Sabala, AnnaMarie Gardner, Mikki Faye Hill, Chris Stevens, and Windy Haza.

Thank you to Rebekah Oliver and Cynthia Greene for helping to understand aphonia and how one could treat it. It really helped so much.

A thank you to my Book Angels (The ARC Team).

A very special thank you to Chaos Coven Members for helping with some scenes and words.

A special thank you to Suzanne Nemec, Acacia Parker, Laura Fitzsimmons, Madison Granger, Prometheus Susan, Staci Black, Candace Adams, and Nikki Sexton for listening to me to think about the story.

Thanks to my inspiring readers. All of you are important to me.

Finally, I’d like to give a special thanks to my family for supporting me and believing in me.

disclaimer

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Lily Adams is a simple girl living in Silicon Valley. As the world enters 2023, everyone is celebrating and hoping for a better year. The celebration ends with an earthquake. After waking up handcuffed, she gets called a runaway and an experiment. What can that do to the mind and will his experiment be her salvation?

For mature audiences +18

Disclaimer - Not for the lighthearted. The book has mature language, sex, abuse, and torture.

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CHAPTER 1

THE DAY THE EARTHQUAKE HIT

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Lily

Come on, come on! Fireworks time! Chloe, my sister, shouted into my ears as she grabbed her mask, quickly putting it on. Twenty twenty-tw0 is officially over. Twenty twenty-three is going to be so much better!

We grabbed our champagne glasses with us outside.

Just don’t freak out the neighbors with your squealing, I warned, giggling as I put on my own black mask to cover my nose and mouth. 

Sis pulled me out of the house with such force, I almost fell down the stairs. Slow down! There’s still a couple of minutes left of the show from the park’s yearly event.

Her eyes gleamed with excitement and hope. Let it out, Sis! Twenty twenty-two, you can eat shit! Whoo hoo!

Not all celebrate New Years! Calm down! I giggled and twirled outside our house, catching sight of the spatter of light in the sky. 

Some neighbors, with or without masks on, left their houses to look up at the sky. Their children shrieked and pointed at the bursts and swirls of light. The neighborhood dogs barked. 

She nudged my side and finished her champagne. This year, they are!

I adore your hopeful nature, Sis. I love you.

Several children zoomed past us, laughing and giggling about how they were pretending to have access to magical ladders that could take them into the sky where they could touch the dangerous sparks. 

Sis waved at our neighbors and laughed, dancing away from me. Happy New Year! May everything be fantastic! 

Happy New Year! I shouted and polished off my champagne glass.

A tremble in the earth moved below us, making me drop my glass. The shattering had been silent compared to the increasing power of the quake. We hadn’t had an earthquake in a while. Some said California was due for one, but most never realized small quakes were more popular than they thought. My breathing increased as I looked at my sister.

Her eyes darted everywhere around us. She bit on her bottom lips before reaching out to me again. Earthquake! Quick, we have to find a safe spot!

It’d already been several seconds and the shaking didn’t feel like it would end, threatening our safety. My heart felt like it would jump out of my ribcage, however, the fear in my sister’s eyes made me swallow my own and I nodded.  

Right behind you, I shouted back as the ground cracked all around us, causing the house next to ours to split in half. We were fucked.

Chloe’s eyes flooded with tears as our house started to crack under pressure. Mom! Dad!

What was the point of doing anything during an earthquake? The world had people divided. Some believed Covid to be over while others knew it still was very real. Now the ground below our feet wanted to destroy what we had left. Maybe this was a sign that we needed to give up? The earthquake showed how our lives would never return to normal, to a world before twenty twenty? 

I stayed frozen in one spot, watching as my bedroom window shattered. On autopilot, I wrapped my arms around myself, feeling cold. Something was about to change.  

My sister’s calls for me didn’t sound real. I watched her mouth move without even trying to read her lips. My ears were preoccupied with the sounds of houses crashing and people running out of their homes or out of their cars trying to find safe locations, followed by the barks and meows of the neighborhood pets. Neighbors were running around, chasing their screaming, crying children. 

Cracks grew larger in the ground, one forming right by the stairs into the house. I told my parents not to buy a house in a fault zone, but they got a big discount on it and never believed something bad would happen to them, even though they paid for earthquake insurance every year.

Lily! Sis’s words finally reached my eardrums. Move! Get to a safe location! Mom, Dad! Don’t just stand in the doorway. Our house is collapsing! 

I watched my parents pull her into the doorway. All of them rushed down but had nowhere to go because the crack widened. My dad made a move to jump over the crack to get to me, but Mom held him back. 

No, she warned him and then yelled to me, Lily, get somewhere safe! We love you!

Sis cried. Her light blue eyes turned the color of a stormy midnight sky. The fireworks celebrating the New Year’s and our short-lived happiness moments ago were forgotten. The hope decapitated.  

Another shake and the crack between us opened even bigger. I ran backward, only for the ground to give way underneath me. A scream left my lips as I fell. 

I tried grabbing onto the earth but came up short. 

Was this how I died? I should have shouted back, I love you, too. 

The fall felt unreal as I watched the earth around me. Time meant nothing. Thoughts flickered rapidly through my mind, making me forget each one except one – Am I even still alive?

A bright light greeted me. How was there light in such a dark place? I turned my head to the right and saw the twirls of the brightest colors I'd ever seen. My eyes succumbed to the brightest lights. I feared being blinded. 

I woke up, lying on soft grass. Every limb felt attached, no broken bones, just soreness everywhere. My eyes wouldn’t stay open, but when they did allow me a glimpse at my surroundings, the night sky felt mesmerizing. I had never before in my life seen such bright, dark blue heavens with white-and-yellow stars. With great effort, I twisted my neck and concluded I’d somehow ended up in a field. There weren’t any houses, no sounds, or maybe I’d gone deaf since the earthquake. 

I tried to sit up, however, every fiber of my being denied listening to my brain’s command. 

Where was my family? Where were the damaged houses or anything familiar? 

We didn’t live anywhere near a field...

My ears twitched. I heard something. What was it?

I squirmed. One second, two seconds, three... then I heard what sounded like barking.

Rover caught a scent! a man’s voice yelled. 

Everyone, follow Rover! a second man ordered. 

Two men and a dog. How many more men were there and were they friendly?

I twitched as a dog’s tongue ran over my cheek. I opened my eyes to see a Weimaraner, a hunting dog, sniffing my face. My eyes closed again. 

A man ran up to me. There’s a hurt girl here! She’s barely conscious!

A second man followed. Wow. I wonder what happened to her. She’s filthy and bloody.

She must be a runaway. 

I wanted to say I wasn’t, but my mouth was dry and it felt like I was losing consciousness again.

I don’t envy what’s going to happen to her, the first man said. 

Those are only rumors, the second said as he picked me up and they started walking. 

I’ve seen the doc’s assistant carrying rugs to their carriage, the first whispered. They were rolled and looked heavy. Why do you think we don’t see runaways after he gets his hands on them?

Because they run away from the doc in the dead of night? the second man suggested. 

Carriage? Doc? A chill ran down my spine. What do the Fates have in store for me next?

I woke again, this time lying on my stomach on a cold surface. A light breeze caressed my back. I tried pushing myself to sit up, but my hands wouldn’t budge. Metal handcuffs held them prisoner. They held me securely to the sides of the table I was on. 

Fear seeped into my bones like I’d never felt before. Television shows such as Supernatural and Criminal Minds came to the surface of my mind. However, two hot brothers or a team of experts weren’t on their way to save me.